Love Kills Slowly
by Vampires Will Never Hurt Us
Summary: MountainClan has been in war for many generations. Finally, a prophecy is sent from StarClan foretelling the coming of a savior. All of the Clan expected this savior to be one or all of Auburnpelt and Rushingstream's three kits. Read inside for more info!


**OK, I know that I really need to sit down and start fixing up some of my stories, but I NEEDED to start this story. It's been nagging at me for a long time now, and if I don't write it down soon, my brain will explode. So, enjoy!**

Prologue

Some cats called it heaven. And there was really no way to disagree with them. The land that belonged to MountainClan was simply gorgeous. In a secluded grove at the top of the mountain was the sprawling grassy plain of the Clan's territory. If you were to come from the forest farther back, the first thing you would encounter was two logs, overgrown with moss, that blocked the trail that had been eroded into the ground by previous generations of Twolegs that had since left the mountain. The logs were easy to jump over, though. The trail lead down to the abandoned Twoleg home, built of pale tan stones and a brick roof covered in moss and vines with colorful flowers sprouting out of them every which way. The building was surrounded by a low wooden fence, and the cats of MountainClan assumed that the building had once been a farm.

Just to the west of the barn was a depression in the ground. In this depression, a stream ran toward the lake farther down the mountain on LakeClan's territory. There was another one of these depressions farther to the north. In between these two streams was an open space where rabbits and quail and squirrels roamed. To the northeast of the small farm was a thick grouping of trees in which MountainClan made their camp. The camp was surrounded by a thick wall of brambles and other plants, reinforced by small piles of rocks on both sides of the wall. The inside of the camp was always full of life. Queens and their kits shared meals by the fresh-kill pile, apprentices cleaned ticks from the elders, and warriors came to and from patrols and training sessions. The inside of each den was surrounded by a thick lining of sheep's wool that was abundant in the fields, as sheep still roamed through the grove in the spring and summer, and moved farther down the mountain for the winter. This wool kept the MountainClan cats warm during the harsh storms that occurred on the mountain peak during the winter.

But the Clan was never without food. There were hedgehogs, squirrels, hares, quails, geese, bullfinches, fish, deer from the woods, and even the occasional small sheep, though those were often shared by the Clan in the area in which they were killed, as they were too heavy to carry back to camp.

This was the reason why LakeClan, DewClan, MossClan, and SunClan wanted MountainClan's territory for their own. The other Clans were not nearly as well off, living in sparse territories full of wilting plants and little prey.

Many moons ago, a war unfolded around MountainClan's territory. LakeClan and MossClan were the first to combine their Clans to attack MountainClan. After they had success in depleting the warrior count in the thriving MountainClan, SunClan and DewClan joined their alliance. Now, the four Clans call themselves ThistleClan, and were bent on destroying MountainClan once and for all.

The two Clans spent many moons in battle, and both sides experienced nurmerous casualties. But neither side ever gave up or lost hope. ThistleClan turned their backs on StarClan, instead calling upon the cats of the Dark Forest for help, whereas MountainClan's faith in StarClan became stronger than ever. MountainClan continued to thrive, but kits and apprentices were being stolen right out of the camp walls in the night, and countless warriors were being murdered in cold blood.

As a result, surviving queens mated with whoever they could, and had as many kits as possible. These kits were apprentices as early as three or four moons, depending on the promise they showed. Apprentices were sped through their lessons, and were thrown into battles as soon as possible.

This went on for countless moons, until, three generations after the beginning of the war, a new leader arose. His name was Brackenstar, the strongest, fiercest warrior in all of MountainClan. After both the leader and deputy were killed off in battle, it was clear to the rest of his Clan that Brackenstar, at the time called Brackenclaw, deserved to be leader more than anyone else. He decided immediately to form a peace treaty between the two warring Clans. He offered them a small portion of MountainClan's territory in return for peace. But ThistleClan wanted more. As soon as winter was upon the Clans, and the prey moved away from ThistleClan's share of territory, they immediately launched themselves back into war. Brackenstar refused to give up any more land to them, but he also would not kits and apprentices into war early, though he still did encourage the queens to have as many kits as possible.

Brackenstar's plan was not as successful as he would have liked. His Clan was large, there was no doubt about that, but ThistleClan had many more warriors, who were greatly experienced in battle, and the Clan was often adding rogues and loners to its band of power-thirsty war cats. Soon, Brackenstar was forced to give up a large portion of his territory to them in order to save his Clan. Though the leaders of the two Clans had agreed to stop the war, smaller battles still went on among the warriors.

MountainClan had all but given up when one night, the medicine cat of the Clan recieved a prophecy promising Brackenstar that his Clan would produce one of the strongest fighters the world had ever known. Automatically, the cats of MountainClan turned to the spawn of Auburnleaf and Rushingstream, two of the strongest cats in MountainClan. Their three kits were treated with reverence, and they were given anything they could ever want. The kits were trained every day during their kithood so that they would already be far ahead in the game by the time they were apprentices.

This is the story of Foxkit, the youngest child of Auburnleaf and Rushingstream, the greatest warriors in MountainClan.


End file.
